I provide an insider's view of the modern business world based on my years of experience working as an executive and consultant within the Global 3000. I am the CEO for Evolve! Inc, a Digital Marketing Agency, and the author of Socialized! which some call “the playbook for Social Business”. Want to learn more? Follow me on Twitter @MarkFidelman, Facebook, or @MarkFidelman on Instagram

Few celebrities, if any, can match the online passion the world has for Lady Gaga. It’s off the charts. Yet of all the amazing things people see in her the one that strikes me most is her ability to be weak, so that others feel strong. Lady Gaga is not just a superstar because of her strengths, but because of her weaknesses.

“Lady Gaga has used her celebrity and her status as an entertainer to create Little Monsters and her profound program against bullying. I’ve been an advisor on her foundation and have seen how she’s been able to positively impact millions of people on her social networks,” world-renowned Dr. Deepak Chopra told me, “she has a unique ability to make people feel that it’s okay to be different.”

I have never seen anything like how she’s able to impact social networks just by doing small human acts. Take this chart by Crimson Hexagon below. Do you see the tall, positive, upward spike on the left had side of the graph? That happened after Lady Gaga tweeted a photo of herself without makeup.

In a world where celebrity culture has long smothered us with the crushing impossibilities of perfect looks, unshakable self-confidence, and the desperate need to be popular, suddenly Lady Gaga advocates the opposite. And her message is inspiring her social network followers to feel that being different is fine – perhaps nobler.

And if you think Lady Gaga is satisfied with simply influencing people on her vast social network (her 75 million strong Twitter and Facebook followers could fill the states of Texas, California and New York), you’d be wrong. She’d enlisted one of the hottest new startups on the planet to help create a community for the masses.

The Backplane – The Remarkable Company Powering LittleMonsters.com

“They come to a place to support and express themselves in an online community that epitomizes Gaga,” said Allison Mahavier, Community Manager at The BackPlane, “she’s created a safe haven to be creative and connect with other people.” What one sees when visiting LittleMonsters.com is a rich, vibrant community populated by people supporting other people. It’s Pinterest meets Google+ meets Facebook and one gets that ‘I just want to dive in participate’ type feeling.

I know the skeptics will all scoff and believe it’s just another celebrity profit making venture. Maybe it could be, and I believe Backplane will do that with corporate brands; but for once, ignore the cynicism and just listen. You have not seen this before. It’s a community of people long ostracized at home or at school, finally finding a place where they are accepted, can share and create online and offline friendships. It’s a community expressed in digital form as Lady Gaga has expressed in words.

There are not many community platform providers capable of creating an online community to resemble what a brand represents in spirit. But Backplane believes it has the magic formula. “There’s Facebook which is the web’s largest audience but it’s more of a walled garden. You have Twitter which is this mass broadcast utility that only blasts out information. Then you have the YouTube layer which is this discovery apocalypse of more content than any human will ever be able to understand in their life,” said Sarah Ross, CMO of The Backplane, “while these networks are amazing, the big thing that’s missing in the social web right now is context and a high quality content experience – and we do it better than anyone else.”

But Backplane isn’t limited to celebrity brands – they are after the big corporate brands too. Their aim is to make rock stars out of those brands; and they must be on to something because there is a line out the door to work with the company. Nike was the first corporate brand to sign with The Backplane, there are going to be many more.

Backplane is not your ordinary community software solution, because it’s not controlling the show. This is a community that is controlled by the brand and its community members. That is its strength and why brands will prefer it to communities like on Facebook that are to a large extent controlled Facebook. Why cede your community to a site with less functionality? Indeed, why relinquish your customers and data to another company that can change its rules overnight?

You’ll still need to have a presence at Facebook, but think of it as another channel to move fans and followers over to your own community. Same for Twitter and the rest of the social networks.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.

Comments

Not only is Backplane’s work in maximizing the amazing (and authentic) facets of Lady Gaga’s “brand” and passionate interests, but the way you describe their tight teamwork and innovative ways all these players work to make her brand stronger than many corporations is inspiring…. and can be adapted to other situations, for us readers to use to become more valuable and visible in this increasingly complex yet connected world. I like the way you take “ripped from the headlines” news and cover fresh sides of it, often turning them into news we can use…. so I shared this column in the group Forbes Women http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=2138864&trk=anet_ug_hm and elsewhere. Thanks Mark

wow…like a legion of others I am a fan of Lady Gaga yet your fascinating post shows how BackPlane has leveraged her rare combination of facets, from vulnerable to bold to passionate about her cause…. making her bigger than many corporations…. I love the way you buttress your posts with such apt and vivid visuals…. The backstory you cover offers pointers that we, as individuals or for our organizations could adapt to generate more value and visibility in this increasingly complex yet connected world. I am sharing this with other organizations and when I speak on quotability and connectivity.

Thanks, I had really engaging experience with their team. Quite the backgrounds on each of their executives. One of them turned down an employment offer at Facebook when they were at 10 people because he thought they were too big. :-) I’m sure he’s still kicking himself for that one.

What makes this post especially valuable is that you highlight and extremely successful and authentic way to maximize brand impact by citing how Backplane adeptly highlighted the rare and unique mix of Lady Gaga’s brand facets (vulnerability, candor, talent and consistent + avid passion for a cause)…. And you described their approach with such specificity that others can adapt the approach to their situation, as individuals and as organizations…. And your use of such vivid, credible visuals further buttresses your points…. I like your habit of taking hot stories, often “ripped from the headlines” then coming up with unique “social business” slants to them…. News we can use is always appreciated…. Will any of the stories in your columns be covered in your upcoming book about social business, when is that book coming out and where will we be able to get it?

I find this post especially valuable is that you highlight and extremely successful and authentic way to maximize brand impact by citing how Backplane adeptly highlighted the rare and unique mix of Lady Gaga’s brand facets (vulnerability, candor, talent and consistent + avid passion for a cause)…. And you described their approach with such specificity that others can adapt the approach to their situation, as individuals and as organizations…. And your use of such vivid, credible visuals further buttresses your points…. I like your habit of taking hot stories, often “ripped from the headlines” then coming up with unique “social business” slants to them…. News we can use is always appreciated…. Will any of the stories in your columns be covered in your upcoming book about social business, when is that book coming out and where will we be able to get it?